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Itinerary check and JR pass optimization

JASMIN.DE
JASMIN.DE
almost 5 years ago
1 response

Hi!

Im going to Japan for the first time in September and will be staying two weeks. I have the first 6 days figured out already but don't know how to optimize the final 8 so I hope you can help me. The preliminary itinerary looks like this:

Day 1: Arrive in Tokyo, Narita airport
Day 2: Tokyo
Day 3: Tokyo
Day 4: Tokyo OR day trip to either Kamakura or Nikko and back to Tokyo
Day 5: Hakone
Day 6: Hakone
Day 7: Takayama
Day 8: Kanazawa
Day 9: Kyoto
Day 10: Day trip to Nara and back to Kyoto
Day 11: Kyoto
Day 12: Kyoto
Day 13: Osaka
Day 14: Fly home from Osaka Kansai airport

My first question is: Im thinking about buying and activating a 7 day JR Pass on Day 5, do you think this is a good idea given the fact that Im flying back from Osaka?. The other questions concern the visit to Kanazawa and Takayama --> are there any possible ways of getting there only using the JR pass? If not, when looking at hyperdia i see that parts of the journey looks like it is covered by the pass but the price is not broken down, is it possible to book a ticket and only pay extra for the part of the route not covered by the JR pass?
Do you have any ideas on how I can improve the itinerary and be able to visit these places in a more time efficient way?

Thank you for your help

Best regards

Jasmin

avatar
Daniel-san
18836 posts
almost 5 years ago
Expert

Hi Jasmin,

Travel from Tokyo - Hakone can be done quite economically without a JR Pass. For instance by using a local Odakyu train or JR line. Alternatively, you could use a Hakone Free Pass here. For the best use out of the JR Pass, I think it would make more sense starting one from Day 7.

Takayama - Kanazawa and Kyoto can all be reached using the Japan Rail Pass. All on the fastest trains possible on this route.

The route "as is" is already efficient and does not need any changes. If you want to get more value out of the JR Pass, then consider making a day trip to Hiroshima. I think it would fit your itinerary quite well :)

Hope this helps :)
Daniel

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